I got into Lubeck airport on time and easily found my friend Tim who I was visiting. I knew Tim from high school, and we've kept in contact over the years, he sometimes visits America during the summer. The first thing we did was walk around the actual town of Lubeck. I got to see what was left of the wall that surrounded the city (the city is also surrounded by rivers, so it's like completely closed in). The front gates of the wall are still standing. I got to see some pretty cool buildings that had survived WWII. I also got to try marzipan...which is delicious! It's very rich and reminds me of cookie dough. We also sat in a coffee shop and just got to chat and catch up. Then we drove back to his house just outside of the city of Hamburg. His house was really pretty and his parents were super nice! Granted his dad didn't speak any english, and his mom only knew some. I took about an hour nap and then we had dinner. For dinner it was him, his parents, three of his friends, and me. We had meat fondue which was amazing! I highly recommend it. So it was a nice dinner full of conversation...that was about 90% in German... His friends knew a good amount of English, but of course they were more comfortable speaking German. It was actually really interesting to sit there and observe them speaking German. After dinner we hung out with his friends for a while and then went to bed at like 2am.
The next morning I got up around 10am and we had breakfast with his parents. I've got to say that Germans definitely eat slower than Americans... It's basically slow paced eating, a lot of chatting, and not eating a ton. I guess we do it a little bit different. We sit down, eat a lot, chat a bit, and then we're done. They make eating a social activity instead of a physical one. Anyway, I digress. Tim took me to downtown Hamburg and we spent the whole day walking around and exploring the town. The first thing that we did was walk along the lake that is in front of the city. It was gorgeous, and got to see a couple of sites. There were a ton of people practicing crew and we went by the US embassy. Then we went to the actual downtown and strolled along the streets. The mall was decked out for Christmas already and there was a Christmas market being set up in front of the town hall. We took a tour of the town hall, a bonus that it was in English! I got to learn about the German government system, and Tim even told me a few things that the tour guide had left out. Like the fact that the senators think they are just amazing and are better than other rulers. When greeting people to the town hall they will be at the top of the stairs, even when the British Queen came and visited. Also, the building survived WWII. Britain tried to bomb it but the bomb that landed never detonated. Due to other violence, however, the windows had been shattered and part of the tower destroyed. Also, there is a statue there that had been melted by the heat--and they just kept it. Also, a lot of the wallpaper was actually leather--weird. None of the fireplaces have been used and are just for show.
After town hall we continued on our journey through the city. The next thing we came upon was the Saint Nikolai Memorial. It is for the victims of war and persecution 1933-1945. The church had been destroyed in 1943 during the firestorm "Operation Gomorrha." The memorial was built in 1987. There was also a sculpture depicting the tragedy of the concentration camps, the base of which uses actual bricks from the Neuengamme concentration camp in Hamburg.
The next stop on our journey was the harbor area. The Hamburg is in the top ten of the largest harbors in Europe. The entire history of the city is pretty much based around the harbor. So we just walked around the entire area and some other neighborhoods by it. (We obviously didn't go to the actual machinery part of the harbor) We even walked by a huge fair going on in the middle of the city. Then we went to the St. Michaelis Church. It is the largest, most famous church in Hamburg. The inside was gorgeous and the view from the top of the tower was amazing. It was a little foggy when we were up there, but it was still beautiful. There was a great view of the city, that was actually even bigger than I thought.
After the church we found a coffee shop and just rested for a bit. Then we went and toured some restored historic houses of the city to see what an average house was like back in the day. Then we headed back to Tim's house for dinner. That night we had a traditional German meal cooked by his mom...and it was delicious! It was basically beef and pork with brown sauce (like gravy), some weird vegetables, and these really good potato ball things. I forgot what they are called, some really German name, but I guess it's half cooked potatoes and half raw potatoes mashed together or something like that. Anyway, it was delicious. Then later we had a homemade Black Forest cake. Also delicious! It had like three layers of chocolate cake, a layer of cherries, and some whipped cream. I couldn't believe it was homemade it was so pretty. Then after dinner Tim took me out for a night on the town in Hamburg and it was a lot of fun.
The next morning we got up at 8:30, had breakfast, said goodbye to his mom, and then went to the immigration museum. It was a pretty cool museum, but I was a little disappointed. It was mostly in German, however, so I have to take that into consideration. Even still, it was cool to see. After the museum Tim dropped me off at the airport for my flight home. I made it back to the PLH around 9pm that night, took a shower, and crashed. It was a long weekend and I was pretty sleep deprived...probably still am. I'm really glad that I went to Germany, and I hope to return there in the future--to visit Berlin and explore the south, where my ancestors came from. Going through customs when leaving Germany, the security officer noticed my German name and asked about my relatives and if I knew German.
Today (Monday the 23rd) I had 6 hours of class and after uploading pictures, updating this blog, and other random tasks I am about ready for bed! Like I said, I'm still a little sleep deprived--so I'll probably go to bed early. Today is my dad's birthday and I sent him a mass amount of emails. So, here it is again dad, Happy Birthday!! :)
Oh! Tonight I also found out who my prom date is. Our study abroad group is having an Irish prom on December 2nd at JP's pub. (I guess we were just bored of the normal pub night) So the guys on our trip drew the girls' names out of a hat to see who their date was. Most of the guys have two dates, and I think only one has one date. Then the guys have to come up with cute ways to ask their dates to prom. My date asked me to prom through a love letter. It was absolutely adorable, so how could say no to that?
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